


Liminal Space

by Hella_Queer



Category: Free! Eternal Summer - Fandom
Genre: First time with these characters so there's that, M/M, a nice little first meeting fic that I made weird, but there personalities are based off of my friends who rp as them so there's also that, kisumi and rin are ooc, there's sourin at the end but that's a side thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 14:03:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11991330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hella_Queer/pseuds/Hella_Queer
Summary: It was fucking ten at night on a Sunday, and instead of soaking in the tub and relishing the fact he had Monday off, Kisumi was at Walmart.Walmart.





	Liminal Space

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is dedicated to the Best Dad Ever, kisumi-shigino-kiss-me on tumblr! Today is their birthday and I wanted to make them something special. But school started this past week and I was under a time crunch soooo have this weird thing! I tried my best dad I hope you like it at least a little bit <3

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There were less than thirty cars in the parking lot when Kisumi pulled into a space. The sky, purple and black above him, would've been a beautiful sight from his bedroom window. But instead he was exposed, vulnerable. And the cause of this late night trip was currently whining about being left behind. 

“Power walking won't make this trip any faster when I've got the list, you asshole!” Rin jogged to catch up to him, faded red beanie hiding his messy red hair. 

It was fucking ten at night on a Sunday, and instead of soaking in the tub and relishing the fact he had Monday off, Kisumi was at Walmart. _Walmart_. All because his so called best friend decided they need to go grocery shopping. And sure, fine, their fridge was a little less full than it had been three weeks ago. But they had ordered pizza tonight anyway, so it wasn't like they were starving or anything. 

“I'm stopping your favors account after tonight.” Kisumi squinted up as the glaring, artificial lights tried to blind him. He always got weary in Walmart. It didn't sell only clothes and it didn't sell only food and it wasn't a toy store and it wasn't a pharmacy, yet _somehow_ all those places existed under this too high ceiling. 

“Oh yeah?” Rin scoffed, feet moving on autopilot as he focused on carefully tearing the list in half. “Then gimme back those pants.” He casted a pointed look at the galaxy print leggings Kisumi had on. 

“These were a gift.” 

“Yeah bitch, from me.” 

Somewhere in the distance, a child shrieked, an abrupt, almost demonic gurgle that was silenced just as soon as it began. Kisumi felt heavy, like sandbags were tied to his belt, pulling him down. What if he died here? What if he was casually testing out tomatoes and someone put a sword through his back? He didn't want to die in Walmart! 

Rin shoved half of the list in his face, pulling him from his waking nightmare. “Place closes in an hour so we've got to be quick. I'll handle the vegetables, those plates that got broken—”

“The ones you threw at Haru last month when you were drunk.”

–the cereal and the meat.” Rin grabbed two baskets, holding both in one hand for now. “You get the bathroom shit, the juice and milk, whatever frozens are on there, and a new blanket for the couch.” 

_At least he has a plan_. Kisumi sighed as he went to get a cart. He grabbed the closest one and winced as the wheel dragged across the floor. He moved it aside and took the one behind it. An even higher, rustier screech reached his ears. Were they _all_ busted? 

“We don't need a cart,” Rin said, nudging Kisumi with one of his baskets. “They just brainwash you into buying shit you don't need. Baskets are priority items.” 

Impatient, Kisumi grabbed a basket with a fake car in the front. As expected, it moved fine. All the carts for kids seemed to stay in the best shape. He turned to Rin, ready to shove him inside and throw out the idea of two trips. Or maybe bribe him and convince him to save the trip for tomorrow morning, when sane people shopped. 

But he was gone. 

Kisumi turned in a circle, making sure not to blink. “Rin?” The automatic doors opened behind him, but no one entered. A chill ran down his spine, and he quickly got as far from the entrance as he could get. He heard distant murmurs of shoppers, but only passed by a few sleepy looking adults, and one woman who was wearing a cat onesie. He kept his eyes out for a faded Deadpool beanie as he went to home and furniture. The only blankets on the shelf were a mix of purple and teal, and an ugly argyle pattern made up of too many shades of brown. It wouldn't match with anything they had at home. Kisumi picked that one. 

It wasn't that Kisumi hated shopping, or being out late. He enjoyed both when he had the time. But the past month had been hell at work, and the number of people he wanted to stab while taking their orders had gotten too high to be healthy. He was looking forward to his long weekend, dammit! But Rin was impulsive and did things last minute, while Kisumi liked to plan. But that was his best friend, so he couldn't like, toss him from their second floor balcony like he sometimes wanted to when he was frustrated.

“First stop, bathroom shit,” Kisumi muttered to himself. Rin had a lot of _specific_ skin care stuff, and unlike the rest of the things on the list, these were written carefully as well as alphabetically. Kisumi just grabbed some generic shower gel as a backup, knowing he'd end up using his roommate’s stuff more often than not. 

_Task one: done. Now everything else._

Everything else just so happened to be on the other side of the store. Kisumi took the long way, and as soon as his back was turned, he heard a clatter, and a mother chastising her child for being clumsy. A casual glance back revealed an empty aisle, and a fallen toothbrush. He walked faster. By the time he reached electronics he was ready to haul ass out of there, leaving his ugly blanket and Rin’s face masks behind. His eyes were starting to play tricks on him. He'd glance down at the list every so often and see heart doodles in the margin of the page, only to blink them away. Little arrows would pop up, pointing in directions Kisumi didn't plan on exploring. 

**look out**

Kisumi frowned, taking one hand off of the cart to rub his eye. Was there a gas leak in here or something? Where the hell was Rin anyway? He was getting like, _really_ freaked out. 

“Shit!” 

He stumbled, feeling like he was in the midst of a car accident. The cart had been ripped violently from his hand, and his vision was swimming. Slowly, Kisumi picked up his half of the list, needing something solid to hold onto. An arrow pointed straight in front of him, and then got covered by a hand extending down to him. Kisumi looked up. 

He took the offered hand and watched the exposed bicep flex. The man was tall, a little taller than Kisumi himself, and he looked fresh out of a catalog. His red hair was effortlessly styled, and his shoulders were broad and his chest looked incredible in just a simple green v-neck, and Kisumi couldn't help but picture him on his shitty couch watching tv and eating five minute mac-n-cheese while they complained about their jobs. 

“Are you real?” Fuckin okay. Didn't mean to say that out loud. Thankfully, the man didn't look weirder out by the question. He seemed...oddly relieved. 

“Is it bad I wanna ask you the same thing?” He felt real enough, his hand warm and solid. Kisumi squeezed on a whim, and got a squeeze back before they separated 

“Sorry about almost running you over.. ah..”

“Kisumi.”

“Kisumi.” Wow that sounded real good coming from him. “Asahi,” he said, pointing to himself. Then he looked away, blowing out a breath. “This cart has been acting weird all night. I thought I was lucky, cause the wheels actually worked? But I swear it moves by itself. It kept pulling to the left and right when I didn't want it to.” 

Oh, good. It wasn't just him. 

Kisumi started walking with his cart, and Asahi followed along beside him. It felt good not being alone. “This place gives me the shits. Pardon my language.” Asahi laughed, looking just as starved for human contact. 

“Tell me about it. My roommate is sick and begged me to get like, soup and stuff so he wouldn't die.” He leaned in closer, and Kisumi fought the fluttering in his chest. “Someone greeted me when I walked in, but there was no one around! I know that's dumb—”

“it's not!” Kisumi jumped when a voice shushed them, and he turned to apologize, only to see _absolutely no one_. He and Asahi power walked to the refrigeration section, and silently got what they needed. They had an unspoken code now, to keep an eye on the other as they turned their backs to the rest of the store. A watched pot truly never boiled, because when Kisumi felt Asahi’s warm gaze on his back, he didn't feel anything besides absolute safety. 

“Sooo,” Asahi drew out as they made their way towards the bakery. His cart kept pulling to the left so that it was right up against Kisumi’s. Normally that kind of shit pissed him off, but Asahi smelled like autumn, and he radiated warmth, and he was almost certain he'd be able to find him even if the store was crowded. 

“So what?” Kisumi asked, realizing there hadn't been a follow up. Glancing sideways he caught Asahi staring at him. He smiled when their eyes met. 

“So what's a guy like you doing in a place like this?” He gestured to the empty bakery. They left their carts and started browsing, sticking close together by habit. 

Kisumi giggled, something he hadn't done in a while. It was cute when he was a kid, but when you're on the taller end of five feet, people tend to look at you funny. Asahi didn't seem to mind. 

“And what guy am I, exactly?” 

“Just your average incredibly good looking guy. Nothing too special.” Asahi smiled at a box of mini chocolate chip cookies. “Since, you know, you already know my sorted tale.” 

_Are his eyes naturally that color? They're too pretty to be real._ Kisumi let himself bask in the complement for a while. During their silence, the murmurs of the possibly haunted store grew. But they were far away, and felt less scary than they did when he was alone. 

“My roommate, funnily enough. Only instead of being sick, he's an impulsive tuna can and convinced me to drive out here.” His chest swelled with pride when Asahi laughed, and he saw that more hearts had been added to his shopping list.

“Maybe one day we could get them together and sneak away ourselves. Let the universe handle them instead of us.” They were heading back to the front of the store now, carts side by side. Kisumi even bounced a little, to which Asahi leaned in until their shoulders bumped. 

“I’d like that,” he said, smiling over at his fellow store victim. “And maybe, we could just skip the _them_ part and focus on us.” 

There was only one lane open, and two people ahead of them when they arrived at checkout. Neither of which were the few people Kisumi had seen when he first arrived. He was afraid to get too close, but Asahi stood behind him, almost like a barrier, and after paying for his things, he waited for him as well. 

It was nearing 10:50 when the two finally found Rin. He was sitting in the little Subway with a sleepy looking man, and had a little baggy of ice on his ankle, held there with the help of an ugly brown scarf. Oddly enough, it matched the blanket Kisumi had brought. 

“Whoa, dude. You okay?” Kisumi came up to Rin with a little frown. His friend huffed, looking pink in the face. He mumbled something incoherent, which made the man across from him laugh. 

“There was a little accident in the vegetables.”

“I almost died!” 

Kisumi didn't doubt it, his earlier fears of getting attacked while tomato picking suddenly seemed less silly. He helped his friend to stand, and didn't question anything when the other man—Sousuke he learned later—accompanied them to their car, along with Asahi, who appeared to have parked right next to them. 

“Wasn't there like, way more people here before?” Rin leaned heavily into Sousuke as Kisumi and Asahi loaded up their trunk. Another unspoken rule had been established as the little group took turns keeping watch out for each other. 

But Rin was right. What used to be a realistic twenty five was now an uncomfortable four. The pair hastily exchanged numbers, and then Kisumi and Sousuke took one for the team by putting the carts back. Getting into their respective cars, they all waited a bit before leaving the parking lot.

“Um, what the fuck?”

“What?” Kisumi asked, finally losing the last of his goosebumps. From the store or Asahi, he couldn't say which. 

“Dude, it's midnight.”

“ _What?!”_

That was impossible! It was clearly still ten when they left the store, and the placed closed at eleven. As soon as they stopped at a red light, Kisumi’s eyes darted to the car clock, then his phone, then _Rin’s_ phone. 

**12:01 AM**

The two sat in silence the entire drive home, too freaked out to turn the radio on or even speak. 

“We are never going anywhere after nine. Like, ever.”

“Agreed.”

**Author's Note:**

> The word liminal comes from the Latin word limen, meaning threshold – any point or place of entering or beginning. A liminal space is the time between the ‘what was’ and the ‘next.’ It is a place of transition, waiting, and not knowing.


End file.
